An intricate share-swap deal undertaken in December 1997 by a state GLC, when Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) president Yong Teck Lee was chief minister has come up again from the past.

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Dr Yee Moh Chai has reiterated that after seven years, Yong should reveal why the deal went sour and left millions in losses for Warisan Harta Sabah, a state GLC. That, in turn, sent unit trust prices plunging at state-run Saham Amanah Sabah (SAS) which has never recovered to this day.

yong teck lee sabah sapp party pc 230409 02 "If Yong ( left) knows the truth – he should know the truth as he was then the chief minister – what is so difficult about telling the truth? asked Yee who is also state minister for resource development and information technology.

"There is no need for a White Paper since Yong as chief minister knew all. I had merely wanted to know the truth at that time (1997) and ended up being sued by Yong for defamation."

Yee was placed on the defensive after a statement by Yong on Wednesay that he (Yee) was ‘the best person to speak up on the North Borneo Timber (NBT) - Warisan Harta Sabah share-swap deal".

Yong based his stand on the fact that Yee had lodged two reports, in 1997 and 1998, against him with the then Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

Yee also took issue with Yong’s defamation suit against him which was ended on Sept 11, 2003.

"It’s not true that the suit came to an end when I agreed not to proceed with it," said Yee. "I was the one being sued by Yong. So, how can I decide on my own not to proceed with the case? It was Yong who decided to drop the suit."

If Yong could have won the case, continued Yee, he would not have discontinued it.

Blue-chip counter shares

The issue broke into the open anew on Monday after Yong apparently took offence over Warisan Harta Sabah CEO Rahman Ghani’s veiled reference to him in unflattering terms. Rahman claimed that the low point in the company’s financial performance began in December 1997.

Yong was then chief minister. The CEO was trumpeting the turnaround of the state GLC in recent years under the stewardship of current Chief Minister Musa Aman.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 The Sapp leader charged that: ‘Rahman had served the motives of his political masters to attack me without saying if I had done anything wrong". He was particularly incensed that Rahman’s statement was released by the Chief Minister’s Department and suspects some political mischief afoot.

Yong, while being quick to congratulate Rahman for his financial leadership and noting that he was not mentioned directly, then renewed his attack against Yee. The PBS deputy chief once led a public campaign against Yong on the issue and this remains a sore point with him.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman ( above ), coming to the defence of Yee has opined that Yong should not have reacted so defensively to Rahman’s statement on Monday about the December 1997 share swap transaction which painted the company’s finances in red ink by 2000.

The Chief Minister stressed that it was normal for any undertaking to make comparisons of its performance between different periods of time.

Losses up to RM144m

It appears that the share-swap deal went ahead at that time despite objections from the state finance ministry. It involved Warisan Harta Sabah’s MISC shares which were swapped for shares in NBT, a trading company, and shares of Sugarbun Corporation Berhad (Sugarbun), a fast-food company under Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd.

As a result, during the financial year 2000, Warisan Harta Sabah suffered estimated losses amounted to RM114 million.

"To date, it is estimated that Warisan Harta Sabah had registered unrealised losses exceeding RM200 million," disclosed Rahman. "This does not include profits derived from any bonus issue, rights issue of shares, price appreciation and dividends declared by MISC."